Before All This
by MidnightUnderMoonlight
Summary: A moment between Zoro and Nami. A ‘what if’ situation preluding to the new Movie 10. OneShot.


_**(A/N): I've always liked the dynamic between Zoro and Nami and that's a big reason why I wrote this short one-shot.**_

_**(A/N 2): This is also my little input on the new, upcoming One Piece movie (Movie 10), in which Nami seems to play a VERY big role in it. I know the movie doesn't come out until 2009, but the preview has gotten me absolutely buzzing. So I decided to write a fic precluding to the events in the trailer. If you haven't seen the trailer, look it up on YouTube. I think you'll understand this fic a lot better after watching the trailer.**_

He didn't know why she came to him. Maybe it was because the rest of the crew wouldn't understand. Thinking about it now, he was certain Robin would have been the better ear lender. Possibly even Usopp. Luffy was clearly out of the question. She was much too devoted to him; owed the childish captain too much of her life and dreams. Sanji…well, the love cook pretty much explained itself. Chopper was too young, Franky too brash, and Brooke too new to the crew.

But the point of the matter was, she chose him. Whether it served as a warning or a confession was the real question.

And Zoro had a feeling it was neither.

It was, in actuality, a moment of weakness.

"Zoro."

Eyes still closed, he grunted to acknowledge her presence.

"I wanted to tell you something." She paused, before mending her words. "Some _things_."

Opening one eye lazily, he looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"Thank you."

That woke him up.

"And…I'm sorry."

Zoro couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been more confused. "What the hell are you going on about?"

Nami looked at him in a way that she never had before.

Needless to say, Zoro was faintly bewildered. '_Was that remorse in her eyes_?'

Her voice didn't shake, but her eyes held another story. "Thank you for putting up with me."

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. She was acting completely out of character. He swore, if this was some trick to squeeze another couple hundred bellis out of him…

"And I'm sorry for betraying you…all of you, back then. And for any pain that I cause in the future."

"…The future?"

She halted briefly, suddenly refusing to meet his gaze.

"You had a life before this, didn't you Zoro?"

It was a curveball of a question thrown at him and it took him by surprise.

"You mean our childhoods?"

Nami bit her bottom lip in uncertainty. "Yeah, but…what about a year ago? Two years ago? The day before you met Luffy and decided to join this crew? What were you doing?"

'_Hunting pirates_,' he answered to himself.

"The people you came across," she persisted, a spellbound expression across her features. "The relationships you built. The decisions you made. The life you led. Before all this."

Zoro remained silent, his eyes fixed solely on her.

"We all have them, don't we?" the smallest traces of desperation laced through her voice. "Every single one of us. We all have secrets and pasts that can never truly escape us…"

In all the times he'd talked to her - in all the times she'd yelled at him and berated him - she'd never let the strong gleam of her eyes drop; not until now. And there she stood, looking like a lost puppy. Her face was set, lips in a straight line and body relaxed, her right hip jutted out with her arms crossed casually. Her body language was normal, but her eyes screamed the deviant.

Looking into those brown orbs, it sent an unfamiliar chill down Zoro's spine.

He looked away, unceremoniously folding his arms behind his head. "You're going to do it again, aren't you?"

Nami was taken aback slightly. "W-What?"

He breathed deeply and allowed his eyes to slowly fall shut. "We're not going to care. We'll still come after you," he continued, ignoring her question. "Luffy doesn't like losing his nakama. And whatever the captain says, goes."

She smiled sadly in understanding, not sure how to respond, before deciding to walk away.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she muttered to herself.

Zoro, hearing this quiet admission, opened his eyes reluctantly and watched her figure disappear into her map room.

And in that moment, he suddenly felt the foreign sensation of empathy for her. Not every person in the world was as deceitfully loyal as she was.

So long as she didn't cry again. That was too damn much.

He glanced over at his swords set to the side, and briefly wondered if he should sharpen them in preparation.

_**(A/N): Let me know what you think!**_


End file.
